The United Nations delegations from Benedictine University continue to out-perform their real-world counterparts.
The Angola Delegation to the 2008 National Model United Nations (U.N.) – comprised of 16 Benedictine University students – was awarded “Distinguished Delegation” by the National Collegiate Conference Association (NCCA) during closing ceremonies April 26 at the United Nations’ Great Hall. The 12 Benedictine students representing Palestine were awarded “Honorable Mention.”
The NCCA bestows three levels of awards at the nation’s largest Model United Nations simulation – Honorable Mention, Distinguished Delegation and Outstanding Delegation. Benedictine University students received an Outstanding Delegation award last year when all 27 members of the team represented France, but took on a greater challenge this year by dividing into two delegations.
“These awards are particularly satisfying given the challenges we faced this year trying to figure out how to organize and teach two different delegation assignments,” said Joel Ostrow, chairman of the Department of Political Science at Benedictine University. “The awards signify that the students have faithfully and effectively represented their country's positions on major global problems across several UN committees.”
The two Benedictine teams also received Outstanding Position Paper Awards. These awards recognize extraordinary achievement in the expression of solutions that reflect the country’s positions across all three topics on all committees on which each delegation sits. The Angola team sat on nine committees while the Palestine team sat on six.
Members of the 2008 Benedictine University Model United Nations Delegation were:
Head delegate Jennifer Amy Erickson (Lockport H.S.), the daughter of Daniel and Colleen
Erickson of Lockport; head delegate Ayesha Farooq (College Prep School of Lombard), the daughter of Mohammed and Lubna Farooq of Burr Ridge; and project leader Amina Waheed (College Prep School of America), daughter of Mohamed and Rafath Waheed of Lombard.
The 16 members of the Angola delegation were: Payam Abbassian (Naperville Central H.S.), the son of Mehrdad and Victoria Abbassian of Burr Ridge; Laura Elizabeth Baier (Benet Academy), daughter of Terry and Mary Baier of Downers Grove; Marie Suzanne Bonnevay, the daughter of Jacky and Corinne Bonnevay of Montpellier, France; and Mona Desai (Maine East H.S.), the daughter of Archish and Nutan Desai of Morton Grove.
Also, Sadaf Fatani (College of DuPage), the daughter of Mohammad and Shahnaz Fatani of Villa Park; Vincent Francois Harmonic of Montigny Le Bretonneux, France; Shan Hussain (Oakton Community College), the son of Amin and Hafiza Hussain of Glenview; Angel Morata of Murcia, Spain; and Adnan Mujagic (Naperville North H.S.), the son of Sabahudin and Elma Mujagic of Naperville.
Delegates also included Bill O’Brien (Providence Catholic H.S.), son of William and Brenda O’Brien of Mokena; Sarah Sharara (Universal School), the daughter of Aboulfatouh and Gloria Sharara of Orland Park; Mehreen Sherwani (Naperville Central H.S.); daughter of Abdul and Azra Sherwani of Naperville; and Nabiha Siddiqui (Glenbard East H.S.), the daughter of Azhar and Qaiser Siddiqui of Glendale Heights.
Also, Ewelina Stachulak (Reavis H.S.), the daughter of Alojzy and Maria Stachulak of Chicago; James Thompson (Bolingbrook H.S.), the son of James and Cheryl Thompson of Bolingbrook; and Amy Zayed (Glenbard West H.S.), the daughter of Jihad and Elizabeth Zayed of Glendale Heights.
The 12 members of the Palestine delegation were: Basil Ali (College of DuPage), son of Amhed and Nila Ali of Medinah; Zachary Augustine (Marksville H.S.), the son of John and Betty Augustine of Marksville, La.; Marine Comte-Trotet of Arbanats, France; Tauseef Ehteramuddin (Glenbard East H.S.), the son of Mohammed Ehteramuddin and Atiya Sultana of Lombard; and Remy Genet, son of Eric and Beatrice Genet of Ballancourt, France.
Also, Matt Kunz (Cary-Grove H.S.), the son of Thomas and Sharon Kunz of Fox River Grove;
Tetyana Napora (Elk Grove H.S.), the daughter of Vladimir and Alla Napora of Elk Grove Village; Tim O’Connell (Joliet Junior College), the son of Tim and Karen O’Connell of Homer Glen; and
Adil Saeed (College of DuPage), the son of Mohammed and Majeda Saeed of Glen Ellyn.
Delegates also included: Kamran Sherwani (Naperville Central H.S.), the son of Abdul and Azra Sherwani of Naperville; Fadi Shihadeh (Downers Grove South H.S.), the son of Kamil and Dolly Shihadeh of Downers Grove; and Rama Wahood (Islamic Foundation), the daughter of Abdul and Saba Wahood of Burr Ridge.

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Benedictine University is an independent Roman Catholic institution located in Lisle, Illinois just 25 miles west of Chicago. Founded in 1887, Benedictine provides 56 undergraduate majors, 16 graduate and four doctorate programs. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently ranked Benedictine University as the seventh fastest-growing campus among private nonprofit master’s universities, and Forbes magazine named Benedictine among the top 20 percent of America’s colleges for 2011. Benedictine University’s Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program is listed by Crain’s Chicago Business as the fourth largest in the Chicago area in 2011.